Geographies

I am by nature a cartophile, having an avid interest in
maps. As such, I see many things
in terms of geography. Geographies need not be of the merely physical
variety, as anyone browsing the Web
is already well aware.

Slackwood existed, first and foremost, in the geography of the imagination.
It had a place in the virtual reality of my mind long before the term was
coined to describe computer simulations, and indeed, even before I had
given it a name. Slackwood is, in
fact, a fairly new name for something which has existed from the day that
my imagination was able to create it.
(Digression 1)

In this context, Slackwood is simply the place to which I can retreat when
I wish to escape from the pressures and vagaries of the real world. It is
the place that I envision when I close my eyes and breathe deeply. It is the
state of relaxation that I achieve when my thoughts need calming. The
name, although chosen for different
reasons, serendipitously reflects this.

With the creation of this Web page, Slackwood now assumes a place in the
geography of the World Wide Web. In some sense, Slackwood has existed on
the Internet since September of 1986, when I received my first account on
MTS at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
I have long regarded computer accounts in the sense of houses or
apartments, which one gradually fills with one's belongings and
improves to suit one's own comfort.
(Digression 2)

In terms of the Web, Slackwood exists within the realm of
Apricot Systematic. Many thanks are
due to Scanner, without
whose generosity, dedication, support and friendship, those of us who now
consider ourselves members of
Apricot Systematic would not have the focus we now do. There may
someday be a slackwood.com site, but that is not a
high priority of mine for the near future.

Finally, if Slackwood could be said to have a physical manifestation, it
would be in my home in
Summit, New Jersey. Not every place that I have
lived in has been an aspect of Slackwood; indeed, some of my apartments in
Troy were more places to escape from than to, and others were simply a
place to provide me with the necessities of living space. But my home in
Summit is one that I chose with careful
consideration of everything I wanted in order to happily stay there for
more than a year or two, and comes closest of all the places I have lived
to my ideal. Someday I hope to purchase some property for a vacation home,
far enough north and close enough to the ocean that the temperatures will
be cool even in the summer, and use it to escape the heat, crowds and noise
which take away from my enjoyment of life. That will be the ultimate
realization of Slackwood in the physical world.

Well, that's a very good question. I've been searching for the answer
for my entire life, and will continue to do so. The answer itself, of
course, is neither constant nor absolute, since the
story of my life has so far been one of
almost constant change and transition. But I can at least give you some
known facts, and let you go from there.

My name, as it appears on my birth
certificate, passport, driver's license, and other legal documents, is
James Edward Kasprzak, although I
prefer to go by Jim or
Jimcat.

Reading the above explanation of Slackwood has probably already given you
some hints as to my personality. You may
also gain some insight by looking at some of my other
writings.
Those with a more business-oriented interest in me may view my
resume. And for those who judge a person by the
company they keep, you may wish to visit the pages of some of my
friends, or see some of the
heroes and role models who have influenced and
guided my life.

I have finally managed to get some pictures
of me online. There are also some images of
characters
which I created, which do bear some fair resemblance to me,
available for viewing. These were drawn by
Apricot Systematic's resident
artist and furball,
John "Pomru" Yung.

At the beginning of 1996, I created a list of goals
for the year, which I then published on this web site as a sort of
encouragement and reminder to myself. I have left it up now that the year is
over, with some notes as to how those goals were met or not.